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What's Coming in the M5 MacBook Air

zen42 said:
Since I have stopped working I will switch for the first time. My current MacBook Pro is almost 8 years old and it was the worst MacBook Pro I owned. The camera does not work any more the keyboard is not good. Meanwhile my wife still uses a 13 year old MacBook Pro which is in better shape. I am pretty sure that I will be nicely surprised and that the new MacBook Air will be a better machine than my old Pro!
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I know someone with a 13 year MBP, those things were reliable if you treated it well. Swap the HDD with a SSD and it still fast enough for basic tasks.
 
I’m still hoping the A series MacBook comes with at least 12 GB RAM and 2 USB-C ports, for the kids. We have an M4 MacBook Air and honestly it’s overkill for the kids.

It’s to replace an 11 year-old 2015 13” MacBook Pro. That machine is too old now, somewhat sluggish even for the kids with general usage. It also has no hardware HEVC support, meaning it cannot play many of our videos.
 
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EugW said:
I’m still hoping the A series MacBook comes with at least 12 GB RAM and 2 USB-C ports, for the kids. We have an M4 MacBook Air and honestly it’s overkill for the kids.
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I suspect yes, it will keep cost low enough and set it apart from the competition. It will be AI capable.

The question is will it run macOS, some lite version of it or some hybrid iPadOS-macOS type deal. Should also have a touchscreen, children interact with touch far easier, hence the popularity of iPad.
 
code-m said:
No to 90Hz, Apple likes to keep certain marketing simple with the exception of Retina Display, Liquid Retinal, XDR, blah blah. To a non-techie it’s a brain freeze moment of dismay.

Liquid Retinal displays have rounded corners which the iPads have four of them while the laptops have two of them, iMac and the standalone displays don’t have it either. Go figure it’s a mess.
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I don’t think that’ll be a problem. Not to mention that most rumors point to that the new Studio Display, to our disappointment, will likely adopt a 90Hz display. I hope I’m wrong. All that being said, Apple usually has no issues coming up with new marketing drivel to justify their segmented product lines.
 
zen42 said:
Since I have stopped working I will switch for the first time. My current MacBook Pro is almost 8 years old and it was the worst MacBook Pro I owned. The camera does not work any more the keyboard is not good. Meanwhile my wife still uses a 13 year old MacBook Pro which is in better shape. I am pretty sure that I will be nicely surprised and that the new MacBook Air will be a better machine than my old Pro!
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Your wife has one of the goats!

The 2012-2015 was peak MBP
 
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Saturn1217 said:
I don't expect any changes. The M4 Macbook Air is getting pretty close to perfect for the laptop form factor.

Eventually (I realize this is not coming in the M5) I would like to see one more usb-c port on the other side of the machine.

And I would like to see OLED and a brighter display eventually. I don't care about 120hz. Just brighter so I can use mine next to a window at a coffee shop easily.

That's basically it. Otherwise this machine is perfect.
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OLED is such a treat once you've used a good one on a laptop. A feast for the eyes.
 
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Mackan said:
Every time I hear 60Hz, I think of Apple. Apparently, it is the kind of association they want people to get.

They are basically always last in the world to offer 60Hz screens, and it probably costs them nothing to add a 120Hz one. But you know, product differentation... "Hey, I just want a 120Hz screen on my Apple product. Ok, I just need to fork out additional $1200 for that. This is fine."
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My M1 Air had a 60hz, and my current M4 MBP has 120hz, and I can't see any difference whatsoever. I've tired.

On a phone, absolutely. I could probably see it across the room in full sunlight with one eye closed..but I just can't see it on the macbooks..so, whatever. I'll probably be moving back to an Air; I miss being fanless, the vents on the side (MBP) are sharp and uncomfortable to hold, and the extra weight isn't great.

I still miss my 2012 MBP!
 
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WarmWinterHat said:
My M1 Air had a 60hz, and my current M4 MBP has 120hz, and I can't see any difference whatsoever. I've tired.

On a phone, absolutely. I could probably see it across the room in full sunlight with one eye closed..but I just can't see it on the macbooks..so, whatever.
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I'm curious, can you tell on external monitors?

On my OLED that I connect my Mac Mini M4 to it's obviously instantly, the second I do anything with the cursor.
 
Imory said:
I don’t think that’ll be a problem. Not to mention that most rumors point to that the new Studio Display, to our disappointment, will likely adopt a 90Hz display. I hope I’m wrong. All that being said, Apple usually has no issues coming up with new marketing drivel to justify their segmented product lines.
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While the marketing fragmentation may not be an issue the problem is that 90Hz serves no purpose. Doubling sees the most effect while some don’t even see the difference between 60Hz and 120Hz. Better question is when will Apple support over 120Hz considering it is attempting to push into the gaming sector.
 
Saturn1217 said:
I don't expect any changes. The M4 Macbook Air is getting pretty close to perfect for the laptop form factor.

Eventually (I realize this is not coming in the M5) I would like to see one more usb-c port on the other side of the machine.

And I would like to see OLED and a brighter display eventually. I don't care about 120hz. Just brighter so I can use mine next to a window at a coffee shop easily.

That's basically it. Otherwise this machine is perfect.
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100. I'm sure that the M5 MBA will be great news for anyone who needs a new MBA.

Those who are happy with their current MacBook, will still be good - keep on as you were etc.
 
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code-m said:
The question is will it run macOS, some lite version of it or some hybrid iPadOS-macOS type deal. Should also have a touchscreen, children interact with touch far easier, hence the popularity of iPad.
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Definitely would be macOS, and definitely wouldn't include a touch screen.

snipr125 said:
Yes still have mine (2015) as my Mac OS device. Want to replace it with an M series, but the thing just keeps chugging along and does not want to die lol.
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I find the 2015 MBP is becoming problematic in 2026, mainly because of the lack of HEVC support but also just because of the speed in general as it can be fairly laggy with modern websites. Too bad, as our unit's battery is still in good condition (since it appeared it was newly replaced when I bought it used in 2021). An 18 Pro MacBook would be literally 4X as fast, and would have full hardware HEVC encode and decode support.
 
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snipr125 said:
Yes still have mine (2015) as my Mac OS device. Want to replace it with an M series, but the thing just keeps chugging along and does not want to die lol.
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Same for my 2015 15" MBP (on Sequoia for the rest of time)

I even had it connected to my 65" 4k OLED the other day (via MiniDisplayPort to HDMI for 4k/60hz) and even that worked well, with no fans going crazy or anything.

True 🐐 level stuff
 
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code-m said:
Even the elderly want touchscreens.
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Some do, some don't. Fortunately, lots of touch screen devices already exist, including from Apple. For example, my main "laptop" is an M4 iPad Pro with Magic Keyboard. I rarely use my MacBook, because my main macOS machine is an M4 Mac mini with LG UltraFine 6K display.

Eventually Macs will get touchscreens too, perhaps in early 2027. However, they will be expensive, considering they will likely come with OLED too, in the form of MacBook Pros.
 
Quote, "Storage tiers are likely to stay the same, starting at 256GB with 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB available as upgrade options."

That's a pity, I'm pushing 2TB and if this machine is to last three or more years I really need 4TB.
 
code-m said:
ProMotion on a large laptop screen is not a need but a want. MBA are not really designed for gaming and most of the work is static or slow moving, scrolling on a laptop is not the same instant feel as a TouchScreen on a phone or tablet. If a laptop gains touchscreen abilities it maybe a small use case benefit.
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Agree to disagree then. I game at 50-60 fps and think that’s good enough but I work with 120 Hz. It’s just mouse movement and scrolling I want it for. Once you’re used to it it’s very annoying to use the rough movement of 60 Hz again.
 
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